The InfoStride Forum

OUTCOME of recent pay-at-sight/verification exercise embarked upon by the incumbent administration of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola has revealed that Osun State had been plagued all this while with the burden of paying enormous sums out of its meagre means to a considerable size of people on monthly basis for doing just nothing.

This class of "workers" is clearly ghost workers, who in the most, exist as mere names that are faceless. Revelations further proved that some are not entirely faceless, but had the misfortune of having their names and persons used to siphon funds from the coffers of the state government after they had left the employ of the state by retirement, resignation, transfer of service and other ways of disengagement.

This fraudulent practice, it has become vividly clear, was allowed to thrive under the careless, inept administration of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which held sway in the state for almost eight years.

This recent discovery is a further proof to the fact that in its entirety, the Peoples Democratic Party is a disaster, a waste and a cancerous cankerworm to any state which has the misfortune to come under its rule.

In a nutshell, the government at the centre, i.e. Federal Government is groaning helplessly today under the profligacy and subterfuge of an administration manned by a bundle of prodigals assembled in that enclave called the PDP.

The Parallax mourns with an admixture of pity and regrets, the colossal waste and loss of resources which the state had been exposed to so far through this untoward sharp practice.

While this column views the immediate past administration in the state with spurning indignation; it gives a nod of approval to the present one for its giant strides, especially the recent discovery of fictitious workers in the state.

This set "workers" are a drain to the fortunes of our state.

They constitute leakages and conduit pipes through which enormous proportions of our resources are being siphoned.

When ghost workers exist in the public service of a state, the damages inflicted are inestimable.

Apart from the enormous waste of resources attendant to it, other damages take their ugly tolls on such a state.

The fully competent and qualified hands in the state, who are the potential workforce are robbed, as they are deprived the opportunity to access getting productively engaged.

On the contrary, the unqualified, unskilled and mediocre-class get over-rewarded.

This is because they are pampered with the resources of the state for which they have rendered much disservice. In effect, there exists lots of vacuum in the public service, owing to non-engagement of competent hands, that is, the fixing of round pegs in square holes.

The recent exercise, which exposed the scam of ghost workers, is a plus for the Action Congress of Nigeria-led (ACN) administration of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola.

It would be recalled that Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, the erstwhile governor of the state made it a theme in his public speeches as his administration wore on, to brag that salaries and allowances of public servants in the state were financed with bank loans and overdrafts.

Recent revelations had made it clear that the practice was tantamount to throwing too much fund after bad, as a good number of the beneficiaries comprises fictitious workers.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has proven itself fraudulent all this while.

The infiltration of the state's workforce with ghost workers thrived under the close watch of the party and its functionaries.

The foisting of an illegal administration on the people for a long time was a heinous disservice which the party did to us in a Machiavellian way.

Enormous resources were squandered on perpetuating the illegal administration in office. Remember the first tribunal that was compromised.

What aqbout the first appeal judgment and the second tribunal? All of these were compromised at awful costs to the detriment of our state.

The Parallax frowns at the ugly development and disapproves the presence of ghost workers in its entirety.

At the outset of the verification exercise, tongues wagged against the incumbent administration over the policy.

While a good number of people considered the move a sheer waste of time, some considered it a means of bringing  untold hardship the way of workers who had missed salaries for a couple of months, owing to the industrial action embarked upon over the issue of new minimum wage.

There were some who challenged the exercise as unnecessary since, in their opinion; the same workers being verified had been on ground before the advent of the Aregbesola administration. Some even reasoned that the verification exercise could not be divulged from attempts by the Aregbesola administration at castigate and witch-hunt workers on account of the just-resolved industrial dispute.

Gladly, today, the same people who held these divergent views have made a u-turn to praise Governor Rauf Aregbesola and his team for a job well done.

At last, workers in the state have begun to realize that there are bad eggs in their fold.

The presence of ghost workers has all this while bloated the salary bills of the state. Consequent to this, the state had been incapacitated from committing good part of its funds to take good care of genuine workers in its employ.

The presence of ghost workers is a gross violation of the tenets of Omoluabi, which is the new totem of our state. Omoluabi translates as virtuous people, a doctrine which encapsulates gentlemanliness, hardwork enterprise, honesty, discipline, industry and transparency.

A ghost worker and his godfathers lack these virtues.

They therefore deserve to be meted with stiff penalties, as pay-off for the heinous crime and to serve as deterrence to others.

In pursuance of its Six-Point Integral Action Plan for the good people of the state, the Aregbesola administration is enjoined to keep its tabs on the public service sector to unravel more atrocities perpetrated in the past; which in the interest of the state should not be allowed to thrive longer. The Parallax suggests that in the administration's bid at embarking on civil service reforms, more measures should be evolved to sanitize the system and rid off bad eggs from the state's employ.

In addition to this, innovation that could make genuine workers more articulate and refined should be hastily

Public servants in the state are also advised to embark on self-improvement activities, geared towards their increased marginal productivity.

Small is beautiful only for the beginning.

If one's entry–point into the service is Secondary School Certificate, it is not good enough to remain at that level throughout one's entire career.

Even university graduates (bachelor's degree holders) still aspire to acquire further learning that could make them more sharpened, refined and up-to-date.

The Parallax recommends a total overhaul of the state's public service. Recruitment and selection of competent hands should be done in an objective and unbiased manner to fill vacancies created by retirees and discovered fictitious workers.

Also, consultancy services should be engaged to give training and retraining to workers.

Seminars and workshops that could add value to the competence of workers are also recommended.

We foresee a state that is totally broken free from the shackles of fraudulent practices. The administration of Engineer Rauf Aregbesola is committed to fulfilling this. It has started well already.

The administration requires our maximum cooperation to lead our state to a blissful coast. Osun a dara o.

Osun Defender